Terran Alliance
The Terran Alliance is an interstellar nation composed of numerous species, cooperating for the safety and betterment of all those involved. The Alliance is considered one of the superpowers of the Milky Way, and is perhaps the most popular member of the Galactic Council. They are among the more prolific factions in terms of enforcing Council law. Contrary to popular belief, the name Terran Alliance never actually referred to the species, but rather, the planet. Terra is the capital of the sprawling nation, and its symbol in many cases. Member Races The Terran Alliance is a significant cultural melting pot in the galaxy, welcoming any and every alien who seeks shelter within their borders. A significant percentage of the Milky Way's races can be found within the Alliance's borders, but there are five races which are considered full members of the Alliance. Terrans The Terrans, formerly known as Humans, are the race birthed in the cradle of Terra, and thus, the founders of the Terran Alliance. The Terrans are well known for their indomitable wills, and their intense drive to accomplish their goals. Their get-it-done attitudes, coupled with their impressive natural adaptability and wide genetic variance within their species meant they were swift to spread through the stars, carving out a vast interstellar nation and establishing an impressive military within a comparatively short time. Veydreth The Veydreth are one of the more populous races in the Alliance, second only to the Terrans themselves. They are often called Star Dragons, due to both their appearance and ferocity. The Alliance actually fought them for a short time, until the Veydreth decided the Alliance was worthy and agreed to join them, eager for the plunder and combat that life in the Alliance would bring to them. Nowhere can you find more natural-born warriors in the Alliance than the Veydreth. Terathians The Terathians are an avian humanoid race, known for their short beaks and four eyes. The Terathians live only among the Veydreth, and are the least populous Alliance race. Veydreth legend tells of the Terathians as an entirely nomadic species, living on a fleet of spaceships capable of travelling the void between galaxies. They had journeyed across the Milky Way, and the Veydreth occupied the rim space where they would leave. Some Terathians had grown tired of the constant wandering, and asked to join the Veydreth. The Veydreth obliged, and now, while their race is secure, their culture is mostly forgotten. Hondaarans The Hondaarans are a very strange silicon based race, crystalline in appearance, with apparently vast lifespans and a dismally low birthrate. The Hondaarans had developed FTL before encountering the Terran Alliance, but they never strayed far from Hondaar. Hondaar is especially valuable to the Hondaarans, as the Hondaarans can only be grown at the Sacred Basin of their homeworld. Their population growth is precarious, often hovering near zero growth due to the long process it takes for Hondaarans to grow. When Hondaarans die, they are brought back to the Sacred Basin where they fall into the mineral rich waters and erode back into the materials which grow new Hondaarans. Trilosians The Trilosians are aquatic beings from the ocean planet Trilosi. They look humanoid, but with shimmering grey scaled skin, webbed hands and feet, no nose or obvious ears, and tentacle beards reminiscent of Davy Jones. The Trilosians lived so deep within the oceans of Trilosi that they remained undetected until the Alliance colonized the islands and small continents of Trilosi. After the two made contact with each other, the Trilosians became quite eager to join the blooming interstellar nation. They mostly occupy the oceans of Alliance worlds, but thanks to technology can visit the surface whenever they want. History The history of the Terran Alliance stretches back into the dark ages of the 21st century, when Terrans still referred to themselves as Humans, and their levels of consumption far outpaced what their world could sustain. The finer details have been lost to the mists of time and the ravages of war, but the Alliance was born in an era of great strife, as the nation states of old Terra began fighting vicious battles over the last of Terra's rapidly dwindling resources. While the aftermath would seem to indicate that this was a battle of tyranny vs. democracy, of the influence of communism against the influence of the western world. Modern Alliance historians believe that is not the case, that such a simplistic interpretation is born of wartime propaganda, and that giving credence to it does all involved a great disservice. What we do know is that world war 3, known to the people of the Alliance as the Unification War, began some time in the year 2040, spanned much of the world in its 30 years, and that it brought about a number of important technological advancements, the most important of that time being the advent of cold fusion, sustainable clean energy. We also know that one of the primary factions of the war which consisted mostly of nations which remained with the UN, called the New Allied Forces, are also the ones who carved a new world government out of the nation-states which remained. The Terran Alliance is a nation which was forged in the crucible of war. The Terran Alliance was officially created on March 16th, 2065, in the twilight years of the war. It was the final step for mankind, in their eyes, and the planet could be better repaired with a united world government. It wasn't an entirely unanimous decision, of course. After the year 2065, it stopped being a resource war and became a proper unification war. But in the end, by 2072 specifically, the Terran Alliance had unified the entire world. The process of repairing the damage done to Terra and her people had already begun. With the technological advancements that had been made over the recent 30 years, old plans which had been put on hold thanks to the war were unleashed in full swing. A mere year after its creation, and with mother Terra in full recovery, the Alliance reached its fingers out into the stars. In the year 2073 the Terran Alliance established colonies on Mars. The colonization was hugely popular among Terrans, and was accompanied by a massive propaganda campaign. As the terraforming of Mars was going on, another colonization foray was made to Terra's moon, Luna, in 2076. In 2077, the first colonial mission to the moon's of Jupiter was launched. The first settlement attempt was a dismal failure, however. Most of the colony's population perished in the "Europa Incident", the Alliance's first contact with a sentient alien race. However, it was quietly swept under the rug. A second wave of settlers was sent in 2078, told that the first wave just went to get the infrastructure established, then sent to the lunar colony. In the aftermath of the Europa Incident, Naval Intelligence was formed, a secret intelligence organization charged with watching for and dealing with alien threats beyond the ken of more mundane intelligence agencies. They established their base on Phobos. From 2079 to 2099, this interplanetary development pattern continued. Orbital shipyards were built. Mining in the asteroid belt began, another shipyard was constructed on Ceres, a colony was established on Titan, and terraforming began on Europa, Titan and Luna, and pre-colonial terraforming, and later actual colonization, began on Venus, Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Enceladus. Encouraged by governmental birth incentives, the human race was expanding like never before, blossoming across the solar system, three worlds and numerous moons and orbital stations. Then 2099 rolled around, and with it came what is considered one of the greatest inventions in the history of all mankind. A scientist on Luna by the name of Alexander Rivieri, using principles of the mathematician Miguel Alcubierre, developed a fully functioning Alcubierre drive, colloquially known as a warp drive. This allowed feasible travel between the Sol system and nearby systems. The news spread like wildfire across the Alliance, and plans began almost immediately to send colony ships to other systems. As of 2102, colony ships outfitted with Alcubierre drives were launched to the systems of Proxima Centauri, Wolf 1061, Gliese 876 d, Gliese 682 c, and Gliese 832 c. The launch was successful, and there was much celebration across the Alliance. Another shipyard was established in the rings of Saturn as demand increased. Pre-colonial terraforming began on the five biggest moons of Uranus: Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, and Miranda, as well as Triton, Proteus, and Nereid. During 2104, colony ships arrived on each of their destination planets. Over the course of around two years, the Alliance spread from one star system to six, and overall morale within the Alliance was very high. Another shipyard was established in the Kuiper belt, and mining began there. It was also established as a checkpoint. From that point on, all vessels attempting to enter the Sol system had to stop at the Kuiper Belt before continuing. By 2117, the more difficult terraforming of the hostile moons of Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda, Triton, Proteus, and Nereid was finally completed, and a colony is established on each. Venus is finally considered a fully civilized world after a difficult struggle to calm its violent, hostile environment. During 2124, The Alliance began their next expansion out into the great unknown, and sent colony vessels to the systems of G. Eridani, Gliese 581, HD 219134, and Gliese 667C. Terraforming began practically immediately as colonists arrived on these planets. In 2149, another settlement wave is sent out. Colony ships are sent to the systems of 61 Virginis, HD 85512, Gliese 180, HD 40307 and 55 Cancri e. The colony vessel sent to HD 40307 sends a message announcing they had found a total of six terraformable planets, each larger than Terra, including one, HD 40307 d, which was surprisingly habitable. There, they found hints of an ancient civilization. The Alliance scrambles to reshuffle their colonization efforts around this revelation. In 2150, the systems settled so far, 15 systems and 22 colonized worlds (not counting moons, orbital or asteroid-based habitats), are declared the "core worlds" of the Terran Alliance, and planning begins for further exploration and expansion into the surrounding space. In 2161, as the Alliance built up for the next surge of expansion, first contact (or so the public is led to believe) with an alien species occurs in orbit around Gliese 832 c, when a merchant vessel from the Murrcioun Syndicates arrived. At first, Naval Intelligence was very afraid, given the Europa Incident, while the citizens of the Alliance were cautiously optimistic. This was the first public encounter with a more advanced alien race. However, the Murrcioun race brought glad tidings, among them being valuable trade, knowledge of the warp lane network, and a few hints as to the Terran Alliance's position on the galactic stage. They also explained that there are some big revelations awaiting the Terran people, and that the Murrcioun wanted to get their feet wet first, make the revelations gradual, so it doesn't have any adverse effects on the development of their society. Naturally, they refused to outright trade them advanced technology. Between 2162 and 2204, the Alliance made use of new revelations gained form the Murrcioun, particularly the warp lane network, to begin an even more rapid spread across the galaxy. They made ground quickly, as well as making contact with several more alien races. Within the course of about a decade, the Terran people went from being all alone in the galaxy to feeling somewhat small. Still, they proved quite tenacious, and drove multiple bands of pirates, smugglers, and ne'erdowells away from their expanding borders. By 2204, with the Alliance well and truly established as a small but clearly significant interstellar power, they are welcomed into the Galactic Council and fully step out onto the galactic stage. This occurs after the Council is impressed by how the Alliance handles contact with the Trilosi, welcoming them as the first full alien race into the Alliance. Across the 23rd century, the Alliance's spread across the galaxy and rise both in power and popularity can only be described as meteoric. It was soon to be that the starfleets of the Terran Alliance were a common sight fighting alongside schools of Murrcioun ships engaging in combat against the lawless and criminal, as well as the tyrannical and war-hungry. This period was marked both by expansion, and conflict against despotic empires and piratical organizations. There was also a small conflict born of a misunderstanding, between the AI nation called the Mindnet and the Alliance, borne of a misunderstanding. It ended with the Alliance acknowledging AI sentience and granting them all due rights. The Hondaarans also became full members of the Terran Alliance during this period, in 2258. In 2307, the Terran Alliance frontier worlds near a dangerous nebula known as the Tejekian Badlands suffered from a number of vicious hit-and-run attacks. The culprit was later revealed to be the Veydreth Tribes, a race which had not joined the Galactic Council, and who the member races described as anarchic and barely even civilized. In 2309, after the Alliance military had difficulty managing the unorthodox assaults of the Veydreth Tribes, finally managed to go on the offensive after one of the Tribes, which apparently had a rivalry with the one of the Tribes participating in raiding Alliance space. They offered to help give the Alliance fleets passage through the Tejekian Badlands. A few also offered their services as mercenaries. In 2310, several Alliance fleets made the trip across the Tejekian Badlands and brought the fight to Veydreth territory. After about a month of combat and blockading worlds belonging to the Veydreth Tribes, the Veydreth ruling council, called the Tribal Confluence, contacted the Alliance saying they were quite impressed by the tenacity of the Alliance and called for a ceasefire. An official peace treaty was drafted shortly thereafter. In 2320 three of the largest corporations of the Terran Alliance, the corporations known as Raptor Inc., Omnidyne, and Omegatronics form the Directorate, purchase, perform hostile takeovers of, or convince multiple smaller corporations to join, and then buy their freedom from the Terran Alliance, escaping out into the stars. Their location is unknown even to this day, to the truly vast majority of the Alliance, at least. Maybe Naval Intelligence knows, but they sure haven't told anyone. In 2338, after the Alliance and the Veydreth began to learn more about each others' culture, the animosity from previous battles began to wash away. Eventually, the Veydreth agreed to join with the Terran Alliance, provided they were allowed a certain degree of autonomy. In 2388 the first Pathogen attack sees the galaxy battling against the insidious nanoparasite, known as the Pathogen, which was a direct result of Directorate experimentation. In 2422, the Pathogen attacks again after their first assault was destroyed 34 years prior. It was revealed that the initial attack was merely a probing attack. In 2426 the Murrcioun's marine forces and a unit of Valkyries destroy the Pathogen central intelligence, effectively ending their threat forever. In 2440, Alliance frontier worlds are raided by an unknown force. The Terran Navy goes to engage this new foe, and come into official contact with the insectoid race known as the Ravasect. This race maintained a significant empire on the galactic rim. The Ravasect Wars begin. When 2443 rolled around, the Ravasect Wars had continued to escalate, as the Alliance only discovered more and more of the Ravasect’s heinous crimes, slavery being among them. With these revelations, a few other members of the Galactic Council joined the fray alongside the Terran Alliance. During 2447 the Terran Alliance discovers that another force is fighting the Ravasect independent of any Council authority when a fleet of unknown but absurdly graceful and beautiful starships, wielding weaponry far greater than anything the Terrans had seen before, demolished a Ravasect border patrol. All attempts to communicate with them fail, however, they determine based on data from other races that this was their first proper contact with the infamous Razorbird Empire. In 2461 the Terran Alliance, and by extension the Galactic Council, wins the Ravasect Wars. The Ravasect are forced to return the slaves they had taken to everyone, though most of them suffered from severe PTSD. The Ravasect were confined to a small portion of space, and were patrolled constantly by members of the Galactic Council. In 2484, The Terran Alliance had continued to expand out to claim the entire Orion Arm, and drew in citizens from many species. As a result, and it officially drew the notoriously fickle attention of the Razorbirds. The Razorbird Empire sent missionaries to begin converting the citizens of the Alliance worlds nearest to them. During 2485, in a rather confusing series of events, Terran protesting causes the Razorbirds to launch a crusade against the Alliance. In 2486, the crusade of the Razorbirds continues, and the Alliance is losing badly. It chooses to make its stand over the planet known as Djangor, the only planet in its system. Against all odds, the Terran navy, at very great cost, manages to rout the Razorbird fleet, despite being outnumbered and outmatched. The Razorbirds retreated to the edges of Alliance space. Though the war continues, the Razorbirds don’t make any real offensive action beyond the assault on the occasional colony. Barely an eye-watering slap fight at that point. However, they continue to try more subtle conversion. In 2495 the Rin Empire launched an attack on the galactic east of the Milky Way, with the goal of adding even more territory to their expansive empire. The Terran Alliance was swift to mobilize every fleet asset they could spare to assault the Rin, alongside most other forces in the Milky Way. Even the Razorbirds shot at the Rin instead of the Terrans. In 2497, the Rin Empire, which had been wholly unprepared for the level of resistance they encountered in the Milky Way, had its grip wrenched free of the Milky Way, and in the end, bowed to a peace treaty. Only the Razorbird Empire refused to accept peace, and they continue to consider themselves at war with what they view as a backwards, evil empire. In 2502 The Raion Consortium is encountered, the very first peaceful extragalactic force. Government The Terran Alliance has a strong egalitarian streak pulsing through its veins, the people believe in the power of democracy. From the period of its formation in the midst of warfare to its days of interstellar power, the Terran Alliance has held the belief that every sentient being should be equal in the eyes of the law. The Alliance is a parliamentary republic where the Prime Minister is both the head of state and the head of government, but is elected by the general public and is answerable to the Terran Parliament. There is also a Supreme Court of Terra in addition to a court system. As the Alliance has no constitution or anything of the sort, the court system is quite important, and thus also has a greater series of checks and balances placed upon it. Terra has had around 1,000 years to perfect the system. Executive Branch As head of the Terran Alliance government, the Prime Minister oversees the operation of the Civil Service and government agencies, appoints members of the Cabinet, and is the principal government figure in the Terran Parliament. The Prime Minister's unique position of authority comes from majority support in the House of Commons and the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. The Prime Minister presides over Parliament, is responsible for allocating functions among ministers and recommending appointments to various governmental positions. The Prime Minister's Office supports him in his role as head of government. This includes providing policy advice, tracking the delivery of government commitments and initiatives, and ensuring effective communications to Parliament, the media and the public. The office of Prime Minister is usually held by Terrans and is currently held by one, though it has on occasion been held by one of the member species of the Alliance. The Cabinet is the committee at the centre of the Alliance political system and the supreme decision-making body in government. The Alliance Prime Minister has traditionally been referred to as ‘primus inter pares’, which means ‘first among equals’ and demonstrates that they are a member of the collective decision-making body of the Cabinet, rather than an individual who has powers in their own right. The Prime Minister is first among equals simply in recognition of the responsibility held for appointing and dismissing all the other Cabinet members. Every Tuesday while Parliament is in session, the Cabinet meets in the Cabinet room at 10 Downing Street to discuss the issues of the day. Government Cabinets have met in the same room since 1856, when it was called the Council Chamber. The Prime Minister chairs the meeting and sets its agenda; they also decide who speaks around the Cabinet table, and sum up at the end of each item. It is this summing up that then becomes government policy. In addition to the whole Cabinet meetings, a range of Cabinet committees meet in smaller groups to consider policy with other ministers who are closely involved with the relevant issue. Legislative Branch The Terran Alliance is a parliamentary republic. This means that members of the government must also be members of the Terran Parliament. Furthermore, the government is directly accountable to Parliament – not only on a day-to-day basis (through parliamentary questions and debates on policy) but also because it owes its existence to Parliament: the governing party is only in power because it holds a majority in the House of Commons, and at any time the government can be dismissed by the Commons through a vote of ‘no confidence’. The Terran Parliament is a ‘sovereign parliament’ – this means that the legislative body has ‘absolute sovereignty’, in other words it is supreme to all other government institutions, including any executive or judicial bodies. This stems from there being no single written constitution, and contrasts with notions of judicial review, where, if the legislature passes a law that infringes on any of the basic rights that people enjoy under their (written) constitution, it is possible for the courts to overturn it. The vast majority of the members of parliament currently serving are Terrans, due to the fact that Terrans are by far the most populous species in the Alliance. However, there are a surprising number of alien members these days. Occasionally a Murrcioun or Na'alu will become a member of Parliament, and there are always several Trilosians in Parliament. Ever since the Hondaarans joined the Alliance, one and only one Hondaaran has served in Parliament. The most common species to be found in Parliament besides Terrans are the Veydreth, for the Terran Parliament's methods seem to be rather attractive to more politically-minded Veydreth. Judicial Branch The Supreme Court of Terra, or the SCT, is the final court of appeal in the Terran Alliance for civil cases, and for criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population. Appeals from many fields of law are likely to be selected for hearing, including commercial disputes, family matters, judicial review claims against public authorities and issues under the Galactic Sentient Rights Act. Because of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, the Supreme Court is much more limited in its powers of judicial review than the constitutional or supreme courts of the nation-states of Terra's past. It cannot overturn any primary legislation made by Parliament. However, it can overturn secondary legislation if, for example, that legislation is found to be ultra vires to the powers in primary legislation allowing it to be made. Furthermore, both the Supreme Court of Terra and the and the more local courts of the Alliance may make a declaration of incompatibility, indicating that it believes that the legislation subject to the declaration is incompatible with one of the rights in the Galactic Council Convention of Sentient Rights. The Supreme Court of Terra is overseen by a number of justices, as well as a president and deputy president. Royal Family If you walked up to most Terrans and told them "So, I hear you guys still have royalty!" They would reply "Oh, yeah, kinda." If you then asked what their names are, you'd probably hear "Er..." You see, the royal house of Windsor has dwelled in Buckingham Palace in the Alliance capital city for 6 centuries, their line unbroken. It's just that nobody pays them any attention at all anymore. With the formation of the Terran Alliance, almost all of the power that remained with the royals was taken away and given to the rest of the government. These days, the royal family is really nothing more than a remnant of a bygone age, with no real relevance left to cling to. Local Government Local governments, such as city councils, mayors, etc. very much still exist. A step up are the regional governors, which manage areas of planets similar to large states/provinces or medium sized nation-states of old Terra. Above them are the continental governers, which manage entire bodies of land or water. The next step up from those are the planetary governors, which oversee details on a planetary scope. These men and woman are also responsible for any settled moons or orbital habitats around the planet. The final step up from that are the sector governors, who manage entire swaths of Alliance space. A sector must include a minimum of five and a maximum of fifteen colonized systems. The most important sector of Alliance space is the Core Sector, which consists of the maximum of fifteen solar systems with twenty-two colonized planets, centered around the Sol System. Culture & Society Foreign relations Military http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:221338 http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:221352 http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:221957 http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:224369 http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:223782 http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:223785 http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:223794 http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:238211 http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:238359 Technology http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:227113 http://middle-earth-roleplay.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:227591Category:Factions Category:Near-Human Factions Category:Terran Alliance Category:Human Factions